Participants at the 2025 Scottish Games in Pleasanton, California, had the chance to learn more about their ancestors through FamilySearch while enjoying the festivities.
The annual Scottish Games are hosted by the Caledonian Club of San Francisco, “formed for the purpose of perpetuating the ancient customs, costumes and games of Scotland, and the encouragement and diffusion of Scottish literature, music and arts,” according to the club’s website. The club’s Scottish Games, started in 1866, are the oldest in California.
This year’s games were Aug. 30-31 at the Alameda County Fairgrounds. And amid the traditional music, dancing and food was a FamilySearch booth.
FamilySearch is a family history website sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that provides billions of genealogical records and resources free of charge. At the Scottish Games FamilySearch booth, 45 volunteers across two days helped dozens of people download the FamilySearch app to their phones, view their family trees and do on-the-spot ancestral research.
Additionally, the FamilySearch booth offered “Relatives at the Scottish Games,” which allowed attendees to discover and communicate with relatives also at the games.
Special guests at the games included Chief Andrew Carmichael of Clan Carmichael, who extended an invitation via email to all attendees to participate in “Relatives at the Scottish Games”; and Consular Core representatives from the United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada.
Lee Green, the area temple and family history adviser, said that when someone is invited to learn more about the Savior’s work, the Light of Christ flares in that person’s soul whether or not they accept the invitation.
“In this very meaningful sense, no pure-hearted invitation is ever wasted,” Green said. “I saw lots of flaring yesterday as our volunteers talked to visitors.”
Green and his predecessor, Bruce McLeod, reported a number of positive interactions with visitors to the FamilySearch booth.
“This whole event may have been about FamilySearch, but I think it was about a whole lot more,” McLeod said.
‘Enthusiastic support’
FamilySearch previously participated in the 2019 Scottish Games, after Alan Smoot, a mobile engineering manager for FamilySearch, connected with Elder John McClellen at a local Church meeting.
Elder McClellen and his wife, Sister Jessica McClellen, currently serve as public and international affairs missionaries in San Francisco, California. Elder McClellen said he also spent seven years as the treasurer for Clan MacLellan, through which he became involved with the Scottish Games.
When he and Sister McClellen began their missionary service, they proposed that FamilySearch participate in the 2025 Scottish Games, an idea that was met with “enthusiastic support.”
From there, the Livermore California Stake and the Oakland FamilySearch Center became involved. “FamilySearch’s support was essential,” Elder McClellen said.
Rudy Wolf, who coordinated logistical support such as ticketing and parking, added “fine young missionaries” from the California San Jose Mission were also helpful. Six sets of missionaries volunteered throughout the two-day event, greeting and helping visitors at the FamilySearch booth.
“They did their job beautifully,” Wolf said. “They added youth [and] energy and were a complete delight.”
